Mineral-faucet.



R. E. BALL.

MINERAL FAUCET.

APPLICATION-FILED AUGJIY. 1914. 1 135 3%@ Patented Apr.13,1915. 9 9 2SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES gazw wk. Z

rHl: NORRIS PETERS C0 PHOTO-Linda. WASHINGTON. D. n

' Patented A R. E. BALL.

0.. FHOTO-LIYHOH WASHINGTON. D. C.

MINERAL FAUCET APPLICATION FILED AUG-27' 1914- I THE NORRIS PET 'mwmmmearns PATENT opinion.

RUFUS E. BALL, 0F W'EBB CITY, MISSOURI.

MINEBAL-FAUCET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 13, 1915..

Application filed August 27, 1914. Serial No. 858,881.

7 To all whom it may concern:

r zlii-t-tlillcd to the lip of t 1e faucet and extending up into thebody thereof in such manner as to produce a continuous, smooth surfaceto the outlet, but experiment has demonstrated that the acids or fluidswill work themselves into the interstices between the '\vear-piece andthe body of the faucet in such manner as to corrode the fastening meansof the wear-piece and cause the same to drop out. Hence, my presentinvention has several important objects in view among which are: toprovide a means for securing a wear-piece to the body of the faucet,including an impermeable material of a relatively low melting point, soas to form an armored lip at the discharge end of the faucet; to soinsert a wear-piece in the gate that the gate is provided with anarmored lip; to provide means whereby the gate may be easily detachedfrom the body, and for locking the gate in its closed position forholding the gate at all times tightly against its seat and compensatefor wear between the parts; to provide an armored lip for the faucetembracing almost the entire tubular outlet of the faucet and extendingup a considerable distance into the bodythereof for the purpose ofbetter resisting the erosive action of the moving particles of themineral matter; to provide means for securing the armored lip to thefaucet so that it will resist the action of the alkali water or acidscontained in the liquid with which the mineral is mixed; and to providean armored lip on the inner side of the gate adapted to slide down at anangle over the mouth of the faucet for the purpose of bringing the twoarmored edges, of the faucet and of the gate, together so as to out offthe flow of material, these edges being adapted to cooperate with eachother only during the operation of shutting off the flow of the materialand are then designed to be out of contact.

With the above objects in view and others which will be detailed duringthe course of this description, my invention consists in the parts,features, elements and combinations of elements all as hereinafterdescribed and claimed.

In the drawings: Figure l is a side view of my improved faucet; Fig. 2is a longitudinal vertical section of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a perspectiveview of the faucet-body and its wear-piece or bushing, the gate and yoketherefor being removed and the wear-piece or bushing of the faucet-lipbeing detached;

Fig. 4: is a fragmentary cross-section on line.

zm-m of Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the gate removedfrom its yoke, showing the interior face, the bushing or wear-piece ofthe gate being detached.

Referring to the drawings, 2 designates the body of the faucet made ofany suitable material, such ascast-iron, and bell-shape in general form.The upper, or inlet, end of the faucet is provided with screw-threads 3,whereby it is adapted to be screwed into or attached to the outletopening of the jigtank, the polygonal shoulder 4:, adjacent to thescrew-threaded portions, being provided for the application of a wrenchwhereby the faucet may be applied or removed. The body is downwardly andoutwardly curved from the said inlet end and is formed with acorrespondingly-shaped axial passage 5. In order to withstand the wearand tear to which the faucet is more particularly liable at its outlet,I gradually increase the thickness of the body walls in all directionstoward the outlet end. The outlet end of the faucet is provided with aconvex or arcuate face 2, that is, rounded in the arc-of a circle ofwhich the axis of movement of the gate is the center, as laterdescribed. The sides of the lower end of the faucet body are exactlyparallel with each other, as shown clearly in Fig. 3, and are providedon one side with the opposed stops 6.

A rounded gate or slide is indicated at 7 having thesame curvature asthe face 2 of the faucet and fitting to slide over said face and tocover or uncoverthe passage5 of the faucet. The slide or gate isprovided with the inwardly extending flanges '7,

through the cross-bar.

, easily turned to compress the ends of the. faucet face 2 7 with eyes15, cast or otherwise formed I and thus there is no ently against theface of the faucet and thus take up any wear between the two parts. Inorder to compensate for wear, make the cross-bar 8 of the yoke hollowand inclose therein a hollow bow-spring 11, the two endsof which contactwith the gate slide 7 and the middle of which is engaged by the end ofan adjusting screw 12, which passes The screw is provided with a milledhead whereby it may be spring against the slide and to force the slideor gate into contact with the face 2 of the faucet. A handle 13 isformed on the yoke so that the yoke and gate may be easily manipulated.In orderthat the yoke may have a positive engagement with the slide orgate 7 I provide the opposite edges of the gate with a pair of lugs 14:,between which the arms 9 of the yoke'fit, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5.

Tl1us the gate may be shifted relatively to the faucet for any suitableadjustment.

In connection with the stop 6, I provide one of the arms with ascrew-threaded stud 6, shown most clearly in Fig. 4, which will come incontact with one or the other of the stops 6 and thus limit the movementof the gate. When, however, it is desired to move the gate entirely awayfrom the face of the faucet as in disengaging the gate and yoke from thefaucet, it is only necessary to raise the screw-stud 6, sothat its endwill escape the lug 6 when the arms may be moved past the lugs. Thepurpose of this will be hereinafter described.

,Preferably, I provide the corresponding and of the gate therewith.These are preferably on the upper end of the gate and faucet face 2' andare adapted to register with each other when the gate is closed. Thehaspof a padlock 15" maybe passed through these two eyes to hold the gatelocked in its closed position. I do not wish, however, to be limited tothis exact form of lock.

It is to be particularly noted that the under side of the cross-bar 8 ofthe yoke fits solidly against the outer face of the gate 7 play betweenthe gate andthe cross-bar, but the gate is held in absolute contact withthe face of the faucetbody. The importance of this provision will bepointed out later.

Mineral gates or faucets are subjected to great wear through theabrasion of the flowing material which acts to cut out the passage 5 andparticularly the under lip in the manner indicated by dotted lines 2, inFig. 2. This not only lessens the life of the faucet, but such abrasionconstantly enlarges the mouth of passage 5, particularly at its undersurface, and not only the regulation of the flow is rendered difficult,but the faucet cannot be tightly closed. lVhile faucets made entirely ofchilled iron or steel would last longer than ordinary faucets, yet theywould not only becostly, but practically impossible, and in order toobviate the (head vantage above referred to, I cut out the inside faceof the mouth of the passage 5, as at 5, Fig. 3, and insert therein aU-shaped wear-piece or bushing 16, preferably of chilled steel or ironand in some cases of brass, which when worn down may be easily removedand replaced. Thus not only is the life of the faucet prolonged, butwhen the lower side of the mouth is the least worn down the faucet isnot ruined and it is only necessary to replace the old bushing 16 withthe new one, making the faucet as good as ever. In my former patent,#829,316, I have shown such a bushing as held in place by a set-screw.This I have found, however, to be open to the serious objection thatliquid passing through the faucet enters into the joint between thebushing and. the body of the faucet and that if this liquid containedany acid or alkali, as is usually the case, the acid or alkaline waterwill eat out a channel for itself in the faucct-body and that this jointor channel will hold the acidified water which will greatly act upon themetal, enlarging the seat, loosening the bushing and ruining the faucet.In order to obviate this, I attach the bushing 16 to its seat by meansof Babbitt metal 17, or other analogous material. This fills up thespace between the bushing and its seat, sealing the same and absolutelypreventing the entrance of water or other liquid into the joint, theBabbitt metal, of course, not being attacked by the acids or thealkaline water. For the purpose of more securely locking the bushing toits seat, I drill shallow holes 5 in the outside and inside faces,respectively, of the bushing and its seat. The Babbitt metal flows intothese holes, interlocks therewith, and securely holds the bush ing inplace. The Babbitt metal should be in sufficient quantity to make alining between the parts and space the wear-piece from the socket.Another point of wear in gates of this character is the lower edge ofthe gate-slide 7. If the gate is partly closed, the passage of thesemi-liquid mineral soon. acts to wear away this edge. Thus the gatecannot be entirely closed even though the gate-slide is pushed downwardto its full extent and, even if no mineral passes, the liquid vehiclesoon trickles away. To obviate this and prevent a gate, otherwise good,from being discarded simply because its lower edge isworn, I provide awear-piece, or flat bushing, 18 of hard metal, such as chilled iron orsteel, this bushing being attached to the lower edge of the gate whereit will receive the wear of the flowing mineral. I have found it best toform a seat 18 in the lower edge of the gate on its inside face and toset the bushing in place therein, holding it in position by means ofscrews or pins 1.9, passing through 'openin s 20, in the seat 18, andinto the bushing 1 as shown in Fig. 2. hen the bushing has become wornout, so that the gate no longer closes, it may be taken out and thrownaway and a new bushing substituted.

Aside from the advantages above referred to, my improved faucet has anumber of others. By reason of the U-shaped sockets at the ends of arms9, the yoke or slide may be easily attached to or detached from thefaucet-body, it being only necessary to turn the yoke 011 its trunnionsto a position at right-angles with the axis of the faucetbody and topush inwardly on the yoke, when the trunnions are forced out of thesockets and the yoke may be drawn away from the faucet. This is'ofparticular value, inasmuch as it permits of the easy substitution of anew gate-slide for one which is worn out without the removal of thefaucet itself or for the complete detachment of the yoke and gate-slideto permit of the more convenient insertion of the bushing 16.

It is alSO to be pointed out that the gateslide 7 is not held in placesolely by the pressure of spring 11,-but that the cross-bar 8 fitssolidly against the back of the slide. This is of considerableimportance as, unless the slide has a practically unyielding backing,the pressure of the semi-fluidmaterial, forced intermittently downwardby the action of the jig, will intermittently open the slide to a slightdegree against the force of the spring. Some of the material will thenbe forced between the slide and its seat on the face 2 of the faucet,lodging in this space and holding the valve open. With my construction,however, the spring 11 merely takes up the very slight wear between theface 2 and the slide 7, and acts to compel the slide to conform to anyslight irregularities in the face 2 of the faucet; but, it is the yokeitself which resists the pulsations of the semi-fluid current and notthe spring 11. The adjustment whereby the spring may be tightened isparticularly convenient as thereby the slide may be forced so tightlyagainst the face of the faucet that it cannot be removed withoutslacking the tension of the spring. Thus, there is no danger that draysor workmen by accidental contact with the sliding-gate will open thesame. Again the bow form of spring is advantageous in that it equalizesthe pressure over the entire face of the slide and bears particularly onthe edges which come in contact with the edges of the faucet-body. Apressure directed solely to the middle of the slide permits the slide tobe forced open at its margins by the pressure of the mass behind.

It is often necessary that faucets, particularly mineral faucets, shouldbe locked positively against any intermeddling or against feloniousattempts to extract mineral. To that end, I provide the locking staples15 and padlock 15, above referred to.

While I have referred to my faucet as be ing made of cast iron or othermetal, I wish it to be distinctly understood that I do not want to belimited as to the material. The faucet might be made of wood and thebushings on the gate and the lip of the faucet of metal; or thefaucet-body might be made of metal and the bushings of the same materialand of the same. degree of hardness, in which case the bushing, whilenot resisting wear any more than. the body of the faucet would, could bevery easily removed and new bushings inserted.

I have shown what I believe to be the best form of my invention, but Ido not wish to be limited thereto, as it might be embodied I claim anddesire-to secure by Letters Patcut is 2' 1. A faucet of the characterdescribed comprising a body having a central passage therethrough and asegmental socket formed around the lower side of the outlet end of thecentral passage; a segmental wear-piece inserted in the said socket andspaced therefrom and held therein by fused metal which fills the space,said wear-piece forming an armored lip to the faucet; and a gate forcontrolling the discharge end of said faucet, said gate having on itsinside face at its lower edge a socket, and a removable wearpiecefilling said socket.

2. A faucet-body having an arcuate armored discharge end, in combinationwith an arcuate gate working in contact therewith and provided on itsside with a plurality of outwardly-projecting lugs, and a yoke pivotallyconnected with the faucet-body and set between said lugs, the arms ofthe yoke embracing the gate and holding the latter in firm engagementwith the faucet.

i5, A faucet of the character described having an arcuate armoreddischarge end, in combination with an arcuate gate provided with anarmored lip working in con- -'tacttherewith, a pivoted yoke independentof thegate which holds the gate against the arcuate face of the faucet,the cross-bar of the said yoke having its inside face in contact withthe outside of the said gate to hold the same positively against theface of the faucet at the discharge end, and a spring attached to thecross-bar bearing against the gate to force it inward against the faceof thedischarge end of the faucet.

4:. A faueet-bodyprovided with an arcuate armored discharge end, anarcuate gate having an armored lip working in sliding contact with thedischarge end thereof and having arms embracing the gate and pivotallyconnected to the body of the faucet; a channeled cross bar connectingsaid arms at the outer end of the said gate; a bow-spring mounted on thesaid channeled cross-bar and bearing against the outer side of the gate,and means for adjusting the tension of said spring.

5. A faucet-body having an arcuate discharge armored end, in combinationwith an arcuate gate working in contact therewith and provided on itsside with a plurality of 4 outwardly-projecting lugs, and a yokepivotally connected with the faucet-body, the arms of said yokeengagingbetween the said lugs whereby the gate may be moved by saidyoke.

6. A faucet-body having an arcuate armored discharge end, in combinationwith an arcuate gate provided with an armored lip and working in contacttherewith and provided on its side with a plurality ofoutwardly-projecting lugs and a yoke pivotally connected with thefaucet-body and movable longitudinally thereof, the arms of said yokeengaging between the said lugs where by a relative radial adjustment mayhe ac complished between the gate and the yoke.

7. A faucet of the character described, having an arcuate armoreddischarge end, in combination with an arcuate gate provided with anarmored lip working in contact therewith, a pivoted yoke independent ofthe gate which holds the gate against the arcuate face of the faucet,the cross-bar of the said yoke having its inside face in contact withthe said gate to hold the same positively against'the face at thedischarge end, and a spring attached to the cross-bar and bearingagainst the gate to force it inward against the face of the dischargeend.

8. A faucet of the character described comprising a tubular body havingan arcuate discharge end, an arcuate gate working in sliding contacttherewith, a yoke liming arms which engage the gate and are pivot.- allyconnected to the body of the faucet, the upper termination of saiddischarge end and of the gate being provided with eyes, and meansadapted to engage with said eyes for locking the gate to thefaucet-body.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

RUFUS E. BALL. Witnesses T. Torr, J. PATRICK.

7 Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents,

7 Washington, D. C.

